Paget higgs and william oouetenay



(No Model.)

' P. HIGGS 86 W. OOURTENAY. INSULATOR FOR THE SUSPENSION OF ELECTRICAL WIRE GONDUGTORS.

Patented Jan. 2 1883.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAGET HIGGS AND WILLIAM COURTENAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

INSULATOR FOR THE SUSPENSION OF ELECTRICAL WIRE CONDUCTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,933, dated January 2, 1883,

Application filed December 31, 1831.

(No model.)

To all whomt't. may concern Be it known that we, PAGET HIGGs, acitizen of Great Britain, residing in the city, county, and State of New York,and IVILLIAM COURT- ENAY, of said city, county, and State, have invented certain Improvements in Insulators for theSuspension of Electrical Wire Conductors, of which the following is a full, true, and

exact specification, reference being bad to the drawings, in which the difl'erent figures represent diti'erent forms of the invention.

Inmaking our insulators we employ the materials known in the arts as gelatinized or vulcanized fiber, which consist generally of vegetable fiber treated with an astringent solution uch as chloride of zinc or sulphuric acid-which exercises a contracting influence upon the fiber, and while for practicalpurposes we prefer to employ the fiber treated with chloride of zinc we do not confine ourselves to this material, but mean to include all goods of similar character, and which for the purposes of this specification we denominate contracted fiber. This material has, when dry, very perfect insulating qualities united with great strength and durability; but it has not heretofore been employed for the purpose above indicated, because when exposed to the weather it absorbs moisture, and loses its insulating properties and to some extent its durability.

Our invention consists in making an insulator for out-of-door use of such fiber covered or protected from moisture by another material.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents an upright insulator in what we regard as its best form. Fig. 2 representsanother upright insulator more similar to the ordinary glass insulator in common use in this country, and Fig. 3 shows an inverted or hook insulator.

A, Fig. 1, is a cup or socket, which may be made of cast or malleable iron or other strong material, having a screw, to, either male or female, upon one side, by which it is secured to its support. It carries the insulator proper, B, of fiber, in its socket and strongly secured to it, which may be done by simply making the two parts fit very tightly together, or by the use of acement, for-which purpose paraffine may be used.

] be filled or plugged tightly, either with the same material or with someother good nonconductor, such as paraffine or some resinous substance. The wires are attached to the knob G of the dome or shield D, which may be made of cast or malleable iron, and in one piece with its spindle E, hy'nieans of which it is screwed into the insulator B, and serves to protect the latter from moisture and rain, which is deflected and runs off the flange or cars 61 d. The wires might of course be attached to the dome Din any other convenient manner, and instead of the dome and spindle being cast in one piece the latter might be made of wrought-iron, screw-threaded at both ends, and screwed into the insulator B and dome proper, I), and in this case the latter could be made of cast or malleable iron, glass, orany other material not aifected by moisture; or the spindle E might be made of fiber and furnished with a washer, E, between the dome and insulator.

In Fig. 2, A represents the support for the insulator, which may be the ordinary screwthrcaded wooden peg now largely used in this country. B represents the insulator, of fiber, which is made in all respects as the insulator B above described, and I) represents the dome or shield, which serves the same functions, and may be made in the same manner as the dome D in Fig.1, except that no spindle is necessary, the insulator B being secured to it in the same way as to the socket A in the first figure.

In the inverted or book insulator shown in Fig. 3, A is a single or many armed hook, to which the wires are secured, and having a shank, E, screwed, driven, or cemented into the fiber insulator B, constrnctedand serving the same tunctions in all respects as the insulator B in the other two figures. D, as before, is a dome or shield, of metal, glass, rubber, or any other moisture-resisting substance, which may be provided with external screw-threads, or secured to the permanent supports in any other convenientmanner.

In all cases the proper slant or angle is to be given to the flanges or ears (1, according to the judgment of the constructer, it being understood their object is to convey the rain or moisture away from the fiber to the proper or necessary distance. In some situations it will be found that little or no slant need be given to these flanges, particularly in the form shown IOC in Fig. 3, where it will sometimes be sufficient weather, and do not claim its application or if they simply project below the insulator B.

It will be seen that the above method of construction permits the body or fiber portion of 5 the insulator to be made tubular in form, which is of especial importance, as it renders the manufacture of the device practicable, which will be readily understood by those skilled in the production of this material, and by tubu- 1o lar we mean that the part B is substantially constructed of one or more tubes of fiber.

\Ve are aware that the materials known as vulcanized fiber and gelatinized fiber have heretofore been used for insulating purposes 15 in electrical apparatus not exposed to the use as an electrical insulator; but

That we do claim is An insulator for the support of electrical conductors, consisting of the fiber insulator 2o proper, made of a core surrounded by one or more concentric tubes of fiber, and combined with the cover or weather-shield, substantially as described.

PAGET HIGGS. \VILLIAH COURTENAY.

Witnesses:

LUKE MADIGAN, G. M. TuoMPsoN. 

